Freedom of expression under siege?

[Dave S]

We knew it...

Come on folks... We all knew the clamp down on media was coming, even back in 1994. The reasoning behind it is far more sinister than we even realise.

If you follow this from a biblical standpoint, WARNING - this might be very contraversial to some.

When the anti-christ rises he/she will need to be in a position where his/her methods, motives, etc. will not be questioned, how else is he/she to lead the blind into eternal distruction? If the general population can only access a corrupted version of the truth then very few are actually going to know the truth, and the media is the only voice that gets us to think about another viewpoint or creates doubt that everything is not as it seems.

The clampdown on media may be prominent in SA at the moment, but it is happening worldwide.

Dave, this also brings me to the E-TV vs SABC that we chatted about on another thread, how long does E-TV have before it is swallowed/killed by the Gov. controlled SABC?

[Butch Hannan]

I really love this last quote about a "Tribunal For Politicians" This appeals to me because there is no accountability for their actions or rather non actions at this time. There is a tongue in cheek piece on my website called "Contract For Politicians" which you may find interesting. As you can see I have no love for politicians and consider most of them to be a bunch of "wankers"

[Dave A]

Civil society organisations are willing to take the fight over the proposed Protection of Information Bill, currently before Parliament, all the way to the Constitutional Court should the Bill be passed in its current form.

Speaking at the launch of the Right2Know campaign on Tuesday, Idasa's (Institute for Democracy in South Africa) Judith February, a member of the campaign's working group, said that should the Bill become law in its current form it would be a "slight on our Constitution".

The Right2Know campaign was unveiled at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town, and encompasses more than 180 organisations and professional bodies, as well as prominent individuals, opposed to the Protection of Information Bill, or "Secrets Bill" as it is known.

"We have the critical mass of support to take it to the Constitutional Court if needs be," she said.
full story from M&G here

Record your support for the Right2Know campaign here.

[Butch Hannan]

I just have an uneasy feeling that the ANC are going to rail road this piece of legislation through. The rot started with the arms scandal which if opened up would in all probability have implicated Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.
One wonders just what other issues they are afraid of being aired on the public domain. I would really urge you all to add your signature to the link that Dave has provided.

[wynn]

If the bill was already legislated we wouldn't know about the civil servants strike, would we?

[wynn]

One wonders just what other issues they are afraid of being aired on the public domain.

Wait for the Reserve Bank scandal to rupture, traced back to Stals through Mbeki, Manual, Mboweni and Marcus.
Billions involved, scary.

See the latest noseweek.

[Dave A]

The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) held "tense" talks with the ANC in Johannesburg on Thursday about a proposed media appeals tribunal.
full story from M&G here

Not very encouraging, frankly.

[AndyD]

This is a truly worrying issue. The SABC is standing proof that government controlled media is worthless. I'm hoping that when they eventually introduce this bill it's put in the ground once and for all by the constitutional court.

This is exactly the kind of legislation that can bite this country in the ass at a later date when it's in the hands of a future government with a more sinister agenda.

I have strong suspicions it's another part of an ongoing attempt to stop past indiscretions coming to light. It's coming from the fear of the world seeing how rotten and corrupt to the core the foundations of the ruling party actually are.

[Dave A]

The ANC still seems set on getting their way on the media tribunal issue:

The African National Congress will press on Wednesday for a new tribunal to punish unscrupulous reporting that has been heavily criticised as a plan to muzzle the press.

The ANC's media panel will meet behind closed doors at the party's national general council, one of its most important political events in years, to iron out details of the plan heartily embraced by its leaders.
full story from M&G here

while M&G's editor Nic Dawes raises an interesting angle on this:

"I think that really the reason we've seen the debate ratchet up to this level now is not that the press has suddenly become much worse than it was five years ago or 10 years ago, but that there's a crisis of hegemony within the governing party," he said.

"That is to say, it's no longer in control of itself and its relations with its alliance partners. And also a crisis of legitimacy."

That crisis was not yet been expressed at the ballot box, but had been clearly shown in the recent public-sector strike.
full story from M&G here

Certainly government/ANC seems to attract more bad press than it used to 5 and ten years ago. No doubt something's heading the wrong way.

But it begs the question - has media reporting become "worse" because of a drop in standards in the media industry, or a drop in standards in the corridors of power?

[garthu]

At the same time, the government really are trying to make it difficult for themselves now anyway. 3 reporters got arrested today for taking pics of poachers.... thats really not going to go down well with the press and make sure they will make good use of it!!!

My opinion, governance has got worse... i think press is more cautious than they used to be if anything... they know they got cuck when they stuff up now so surely on there guard.

Politicians have alot to hide ..always...

[AndyD]

I would also be interested to see what charges they bring against poor old Pig Spotter if or when they find him.

Edit
Just to annoy the powers that be here's his twitter profile. https://twitter.com/pigspotter

[desA]

What's with the pigs trying to nail the PigSpotter?

Surely he's exercising his human right?

[Dave A]

Defeating the ends of justice, obstructing or hindering a police officer from carrying out his lawful duties...

EDIT: add (possibly) operating a Blackberry while driving (I just checked out his profile).
19000 followers - impressive!

[desA]

Defeating the ends of justice, obstructing or hindering a police officer from carrying out his lawful duties...

The man's a legend...

[desA]

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-09-23-saving-pigspotters-bacon

An interesting read.

For all the members who supported this invasion of PigSpotter's rights without even blinking. Shame on you...